Link for loom harness mechanism



Oct. 28,1947. I c; P. BE RGSTROM EHTAL 9,79

LINK FOR LOOM HARNESS MECHANISM Filed 090. 22, 1945 2 Shets-$ he et 1 mvE ToRs. CARL I? asfiasmau ROBERT s. swan/N- ATTOR EY Oct. 28, 1947. I c.P; BERGSTROM ETAL 2,429,794

LINK .FOR LOOM HARNESS MECHANISM Filed Dec. 22, 1945 4 I 2 Sheets-Sheet2 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 28, 1947 Carl P. Bergstrom-and Robert S.Schedin, Worcester, Mas's.,-as'signors to Crompton & Knowles LoomWorks,'Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationDecember 22, 1945, Serial No. 636,947

9 Claims. (Cl.'13989) This invention relatesto improvements in harnessmechanisms for loomsiandit is the general object of the invention toprovide .an improved form of link for the mechanismwhich operates theharness frames.

The harness frames of many looms are lifted positively to form the topshed and are Pulled down by springs to form'the bottom shed. Thesesprings are sometimes-mounted in a frame secured to the floor under theharness frames and operate small levers connected to the harness frames.These socalled pull-down mechanisms generally include a link between thelever and the spring so constructed that either one or two springs canbeconnected'to'the link to vary the force exerted on the small levers.

As heretofore made these links have been constructed of spaced parallelsheetv metal side members connected rigidly," as by riveting, to thedouble hook member. The hook member-becomes worn by the springs,causingthe discarding of the entire link and its replacement by a' newlink. It is an important object of our present invention to provide thelink with a removableghook member having a restricted part which can bespread to slip over a holding part of the link body, such as a rivet.subject matter of our invention becomes worn it can be readily removedand a new one inserted in its place. I

It is another object of our invention to provide a link of the typedescribed having parallel spaced side members between which extendrivets uniting the side members and providing attaching means for adouble spring hook having parts 1 thereof separated by a distance lessthan the diameter of the rivets and separable to permitremoval of thespring'member. The hook member is removed fromv its normal position by asimple operation readily performed by hand.

With these and other objects inview which will appear as the descriptionproceeds, our invention resides in the combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter described and set forth;

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a'convenient embodiment of ourinvention is set forth, and wherein two methods of removing the hookmember are indicated,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic front elevation of parts of a loom showingharness pull-down mechanism equipped with our invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlargedfront elevation of one of our improved links withthe hook member in normal position, 1

When the hook forming the Fig. 3 is a plan view lookingin-the directionof arrow 3, Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4--4 of Fig. 3,

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views similar to Fig. 4 illustrating thepreferred manner of removing the hookmember,

Fig. '7 is'a front elevation of the improved resilient hook member, and

Fig. 8 indicates an alternative method of removing the hook member.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, there is indicated a loom frame l0 supo ting a dobby mechanism II to operate harness frames l2'by means ofharness cords l3. Secured to the floor under the harness frames is apull-down mechanism designated generally at P having side members M inthe u'pper ends of which are mounted pivot rods l5. Levers l6 aremounted on the pivot rods It: for vertical movement and'are connected tothe bottoms of the harness frames by connectors 11. Elongatedhorizontally disposed springs to extend between the'frames l4 and areconnected to the links L forming the subject'matter of our invention.The outer ends of the links are connected to the'aforesaid levers l6 andthe springs are normally operative to exert a downward pull on theharness frames.

The matter thus far described except for the links L is of commonconstruction and may if desired be as set'forth in prior patent toHolmes No. 2,097,665.

In carrying our inveh-tion'into effectwe provide one end, the left'endas viewed in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, with a stud or rivet 20 for engagementwith a lever l5. Rivet 20 extends between and fastens together twospaced preferably sheet metal side plates or elements 2| and 22. At theother end of the link the side elements are connected by outer and innerrivets 23 and 24, respectively. The side elements and rivets'23 and 24,togetherwith rivet 29, form the link body LB. The rivets 23 and 25 maybe considered as a joining means having convex surfaces 25 and 2 6,respectively, the one facing the adjacent end'ofthe body LB and theother facing theopposite end of the body.

The hook member for springs I8 is indicated generally at 30 and is madeof a singlepiece of strong resilient wire bent as shown in Fig. '7 andhas a U-shaped'inner or left end formed by side arms 3| and 32preferably parallel and connected by a rounded or closed end member 33located approximately at the longitudinal center of the wire of whichmember 30 is made. As shown in Fig. '7 the right ends of the side armsare bowed toward each other to form bends 34 which define between them anormally restricted narrow neck or throat 35 of less width than thediameter of rivets 23 and 24. Throat 35 is also of less width than thespace 36 between arms 3| and 32 with which it communicates and throughwhich the joining means or rivets 23 and 24 pass. For convenience inmanufacture the rivets 23 and 24 are alike, although they need not be,but it is desirable that the throat 35 be narrow enough to preventaccidental slippage of the rivet 23 through it. The side armssubstantially surround the rivets and have their free ends bent beyondthroat 35 to form oppositely directed hooks 31' for attachment with thesprings I8. The hook member will ordinarily be loosely held on the linkbody, but if desired the bends34 can be so made as to hold the two partsof the link firmly together. As shown in Fig. 2 the adjacent parts ofthe hooks 3'| curve toward each other in a direction toward the bends34.

The normal relationship between the link body and the hook member isthat indicated in Fig. 2, wherein the rivets 23 and 24 lie within thesubstantially enclosed space 35 between the side arms 3| and 32, and thehooks 3'! are accessible for attachment to springs I8; During theoperation of the pull-down mechanism P each spring will exert its forcethrough the spring member 30, rivet 24, and rivet 20 of thecorresponding link to the associated lever I6 A I g If the hook member3|) should become worn sufiiciently to require replacement it may in thepreferred operation be pushed to the left as viewed in Fig. 2 while thelink body is held stationary, thereby causing separation of the hooksdue to their resilience or deformability with resultant spreading orwidening of the throat 35 to permit rivet 23 to slip through it to theposition shown in Fig. 5. By a second push to the left the throat willagain be spread and arms 3| and 32 will slip beyond rivet 24 and themember 30 be free from the link body LB, see Fig. 6. During both ofthese steps the operators fingers will push on the outer rounded convexparts of the hooks 3'! While the thumb of the same hand engages the endof link body LB adjacent to rivet 20. The distance between the rivets 20and 24 is somewhat greater than the length of member 30, hence thelatter can readily assume the position shown in Fig. 6. After the wornhook member has been removed a new one can be moved to position on linkbody LB by slipping it through first over rivet 24 and then over rivet23, arms 3| and 32 spreading apart to open the throat 35.

An alternative method of effecting the second step of removal of member3|] from link body LB is indicated in Fig. 8. After the parts are asshown in Fig. 5 member 30 can be turned around rivet 24 to atransverseposition such as shown in full lines in Fig. 8, after which a pull inthe direction of arrow a will spread throat 35 and the hook member canbe moved to the free position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 8.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a simple formof link for loom harness pull-down mechanism in which the link body canbe used repeatedly and in which the hook member which is subject to wearcan be renewed without discarding the link body. The double hook memberis held in normal position by its shape, but can be removed due to itsresilience. So far as certain features of our invention are concernedthe rivets can be considered as rigid 4 parts of the link body extendinglaterally from the side elements.

Having thus described our invention is will be seen that changes andmodifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and we do not wishto be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what we claim is:

1. In a link for loom harness mechanism, a link body including a pair ofsubstantially parallel fiat spaced side elements, joining meansconnecting said elements, and a hook member having spaced resilient armslying in a plane substantially parallel to the planes of said flatelements and formed to define between them a space occupied by thejoining means and terminating in oppositely curved hooks lying in saidplane of the arms, the latter being bent toward each other to define athroat normally restricted to enable said arms to hold the member innormal position with respect to said joining means, said arms beingseparable due to resilience thereof to spread said throat to permit saidarms to slip over said joining means to remove the member from said linkbody.

2. In a link for loom harness mechanism, a link body including a'pair'of spaced side elements, joining means connecting said elements, aresilient wire hook member having a U-shaped end forming a spaceoccupied by said joining means said space having at one end thereof athroat normally restricted to enable said joining means to cooperatewith said U-shaped end to hold the member in. normal position, saidU-shaped end of said member being deformable due to the resiliencethereof to enlarge said throat and enable said joining means to passtherethrough to effect removal ofs'aid member from said link body, and ahook on each end of the wire, said hooks curved away from each other andlying in the plane of the U-Shaped end of said member, whereby eitherhook can pass between said side elements when the hook memberis removedfrom a the link body.

3. In a link for loom harness mechanism, a

link body including a pair of spaced side elements, joining meansconnecting said elements, a resilient hook member substantiallyinclosing said joining means and being held by the latter in normalposition on the link body, said member having parts thereof separabledue to the resilience thereof and slidable over said joining means toremove the member from said link body, and oppositely curved hooks onsaid hook member lying substantially in a plane and proportioned to passbetween "said side elements. 4. In a link for loom harness mechanism, alink body including a pair of spaced side elements, joining meansconnecting said elements, a hook member formedof a resilient wire bentat the longitudinal center thereof to form two arms, and hooks formed onsaid arms bent away from each other in the plane of said arms, thelatter being bent toward each other between said joining means and hooksso that said arms substantially surround said joining means to hold themember normally on said link body, said arms being separable to permitpassage of said joining means between said arms and enable said memberto be removed from said link body.

5. In a link for a loom harness control mechanism, a link bodycomprising two spaced side plates,- rivets spaced longitudinally of thelink 'body adjacent one end thereof and holding said plates together inspaced relation, and a resilient hook member formed as a bent wirehaving side arms extending on opposite sides of said rivets and havingfree ends formed as hooks bent away from each other in the plane of saidarms, said side arms having parts bent toward each other between saidhooks and the rivet adjacent thereto, the distance between said partsbeing'less than the diameter of said rivet, and said parts being movableapart from each other to slip over said rivet due to the resilience ofsaid side arms.

6. In a link for a loom harness control mechanism, a link bodycomprising two spaced side plates, rivets spaced longitudinally of thelink body adjacent one end thereof and holding said plates together inspaced relation, and a hook member having spaced resilient side armsextending along opposite sides of said rivets and terminating inoppositely directed curved hooks lying in the plane of said side arms,the latter having parts thereof bent toward each other between saidhooks and one of said rivets, the distance between said parts "beingless than the diameter of said one rivet, said parts being movable apartfrom each other to slip over said one rivet due to the resilience ofsaid side arms.

7. In a link for loom harness mechanism, a link body having sideelements connected together in spaced relation by joining means, a hookmember having resilient arms normally substantially inclosing saidjoining means to hold the member on the body but separable to permitslipping of said arms over said joining means to effect removal of saidhook member from said hook body, and oppositely extending hooks, one oneach arm, curved away from each other, said arms and hooks being in aplane and proportioned to pass between said side elements.

8. In a link for loom harness mechanism, a link body having sideelements connected together in spaced relation by joining means, a hookmemher having resilient arms connected to each other on one side of saidjoining means and having between them a space between said elementsthrough which said joining means extends, said arms being formed on theopposite side of said joining means to form a narrow throat connectingwith said space and of less width measured transversely of the link bodythan the width of said joining means measured transversely of the linkbody, and oppositely directed curved hooks on the arms beyond saidthroat relatively to the joining means, said arms and curved hooks lyingin a plane and the hook, member capable of passing as a unit betweensaid side elements.

9. In a link for a loom harness control mechanism, a link bodycomprising two spaced elongated side plates, joining means adjacent toone end of said body securing said plates together and having a convexsurface facing said one end of the body and another convex surfacefacing the other end of the body, a hook member made of resilient wirebent on itself to form a U-shaped part to engage said other convexsurface and form side arms each having a free end, a hook on the freeend of each arm, and each side arm having a bend therein toward theother side arm between the hook thereof and said U- shaped part, saidside arms and bends therein and the hooks all lying substantially in asingle plane, adjacent parts of the hooks curved toward each other in adirection toward said bends, said hooks when between said side platesand having said adjacent parts thereof jointly forced in a directiontoward said one end of the body against said other convex surface of thejoining means causing the latter to separate the bends to permitassembly of the hook member on the body, and said bends when forcedjointly in a direction toward the other end of said body against saidother convex surface of the joining means being separated by the latterto permit'removal of the hook member from the body.

CARL P. BERGSTROM. ROBERT S. SCHEDIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,097,665 Holmes Nov. 2, 19371,907,529 Foure-Roux May 9, 1933 361,175 McCracken Apr. 12, 1887

